2019

If you can travel to Nottingham, do please come along to the West Park Leisure Centre in Wilsthorpe Road, Long Eaton NG10 4AA. This year our show is on Sunday 14th April. The centre is about a mile and a half from Junction 25 on the M1. When you come off the motorway, take the exit to Long Eaton onto Bostock’s Lane. After about half a mile, at the junction with Longmoor Road, turn right onto the B6002. The road bears left and becomes Petersham Road. Continue along the B6002 into Wilsthorpe Road and the Leisure Centre is along this road on the left.

We have lectures which we hold upstairs, but there are stairs and a lift, so access is easy for everyone. We’ll have hot and cold snacks and drinks available and last year’s excellent caterers will look after us again.

We’re delighted to let you all know that Saturday 5th October 2019 is confirmed as the new date for the show.

The show takes place on Saturday 5th October from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm at Bournemouth School for Girls in Castle Gate Close, Castle Lane West, Bournemouth, Dorset BH8 9UJ. Tickets are available and cost £5 in advance or £6 on the door. The school refectory opens and staff provide hot and cold refreshments throughout the day.

We’ll have a Guest Speaker at around 11.00 am and present a fashion show in the afternoon around 2.00 pm. Last year’s exhibitors included Andee Knits, Anne Croucher and the Knit Clinic, B Hague & Co, Bill King, Carbery MKC, David Hampson from The Wool Cabin, Elaine Cater, Fiona Morris, Fleet MKC, Guild of Machine Knitters, Knits ‘n’ Bits from Wendy Piper, Machine Knitting Monthly also with Anjo Designs, Nina Miklin, Ringwood MKC, Rob Fountain and Uppingham Yarns. Watch this space as we update the details until the show.

It’s incredible to think that we’re at the start of another new year and it’s time to get into gear again for our two shows. This year they swap places so first we return to West Park Leisure Centre in Wilsthorpe Road, Long Eaton NG10 4AA for the Nottingham Machine Knitting Show on Sunday 14th April. Following your overwhelming endorsement, our Bournemouth Show will return to last year’s popular autumn slot and take place on Saturday 5th October at Bournemouth School for Girls in Castle Gate Close, Castle Lane West, Bournemouth BH8 9UJ. Please make diary dates to join us and help me to keep the flag flying for machine knitting.

I now have an apology to make to all our readers patiently waiting for the next part of Rachel Mayer’s DesignaKnit series. She previously showed us how to make some changes to the shape and size of a garment, such as shortening sleeves and adding a bit of ease, but she also explained that there are limits. Next month she’ll show us how to make fundamental changes in Original Pattern Drafting, such as knitting a waterfall front. As before we’ll split it over two months, so the pictures are large and clear for you to follow.

Do turn to Newsline this month to read about some small lights that Brenda and Doug Bristow found on their recent travels. I reckon they’ll make a huge difference to life in general for many of us. Brenda still teaches at Heathercraft and recently was giving a lesson when, to put it politely, she ‘made a bit of a mess’ trying to pick up some stitches. Like many of us, her eyesight isn’t as sharp as it used to be, so she was amazed to find this small light with potentially hundreds of uses. It’s around five inches tall and about an inch across and it stands on any magnetic base, including a knitting machine needlebed. The bulb has 15 tiny LED lights to give masses of illumination where we need it most. Doug has one in his workroom when he’s repairing machines and another in the garage when he’s messing about with the car. One has found its way into Brenda’s kitchen and there’s another by the side of the bed for reading at night. As the base is quite small Brenda stands it on something such as a larger metal jam jar lid, to give a bit more support when used on a table or anywhere without a magnetic surface. To test it, Brenda said they’d had about seven or eight hours continuous use from one set of three decent-quality triple A batteries. However, they switched to rechargeable batteries a long time ago and they’re ideal. I’m intrigued and one is already on its way to me, so I’ll let you know how I get on with it next month. Until then, let’s look forward to a happy, healthy and prosperous year ahead for us all.

If you can travel to Nottingham, do please come along to the West Park Leisure Centre in Wilsthorpe Road, Long Eaton NG10 4AA. This year our show is on Sunday 14th April. The centre is about a mile and a half from Junction 25 on the M1. When you come off the motorway, take the exit to Long Eaton onto Bostock’s Lane. After about half a mile, at the junction with Longmoor Road, turn right onto the B6002. The road bears left and becomes Petersham Road. Continue along the B6002 into Wilsthorpe Road and the Leisure Centre is along this road on the left.

We have lectures which we hold upstairs, but there are stairs and a lift, so access is easy for everyone. We’ll have hot and cold snacks and drinks available and last year’s excellent caterers will look after us again.

A Wool Market is being held at Bradford Industrial Museum to celebrate the patron saint of wool-combers, Bishop Blaise and the history of wool in Bradford. The event, which takes place at the Bradford Council-run museum on the feast day of St Blaise, Sunday 3rd February, will have stalls selling woollen yarns, textiles and hand looms, as well as fun family activities including spinning and weaving demonstrations. Delicious food will also be on offer and there will be a pop up pub in the museum which will have beer from a local Bradford brewery. Entertainment will be provided by a choir and brass band, there will even be alpacas.

Stalls at the event, which takes place from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm, will include local companies selling all manner of knitting gifts. This will include hand-dyed British wool, fibres and equipment for felt making and spinning, luxury and lace-weight yarns, haberdashery, knitting patterns and accessories and products made from alpaca wool. All of this will be alongside the museum’s fantastic displays that tell the story of Bradford’s Industrial past. The free event is being organised by Bradford Industrial Museum in conjunction with Glyn Watkins and sponsorship from Napoleon’s Casino and Salamander Brewery.

Bishop Blaise is the patron saint of wool-combers. He was a physician and bishop in Sebastea, Armenia and was believed to have lived around the end of the 3rd or early 4th century. People went to him for cures of both spiritual and bodily ailments and he was reported to have healed animals. He was reported to have been tortured by being flayed using pins from a wool-comb and beheaded because he refused to renounce his faith.

Bradford was once known as Worstedopolis due to the number of mills and wool processing businesses including wool-combers that operated in the district and up until 1825 the wool-combers of the district would hold a parade through the city to celebrate their patron saint. It was a four day festival where one of the wool-combers would dress as Bishop Blaise and parade through the town.

Maggie Pedley, Libraries, Museums and Galleries Manager at Bradford Council, said: “Though the mill where the Industrial Museum is based was originally built as a small worsted spinning mill, this is our first wool market. We have two ‘Bishop Blaise’ coats that were worn in the parades in our collection. One from Bradford and one from Keighley, as well as some other memorabilia from these parades and we will be putting some of this on display as part of the event. I would encourage anyone with an interest in Bradford’s woollen history to visit the museum for this event.” For more information visit www.bradfordmuseums.org